Meng Haoran's “A Farewell to Official Wang Wei” (300 Tang Poems #131)

Translation

Meng Haoran (689-740)	孟浩然
A Farewell to Official Wang Wei	留別王侍御維

Still, quiet— why wait anymore?	寂寂竟何待
Morning after morning, the Royal Court—I come back empty.	朝朝空自歸
Desiring to seek more fragrant grass, I leave	欲尋芳草去
With sorrow for the old friend as I part.	惜與故人違
Of those who take the road to power who will lend a hand?	當路誰相假
Rare in the world are those who know the tune of true friendship.	知音世所稀
I must revere, conserve the still silence	祗應守寂寞
And cloak myself behind the door of my ancient garden.	還掩故園扉

Commentary:

Meng Haoran and Wang Wei were
both prominent landscape poets and they had a profound friendship, so people
often call them Wang-Meng. This farewell poem was written when Meng Haoran was
about to leave Chang’an. His trip to Chang’an was fruitless, so the poem
reveals loneliness and disappointment.

Together “朝朝” means “morning after morning,”
but individually the characters also symbolize the Imperial Court, tying into
the theme of Meng failing to obtain an official position. “Fragrant grass” is a
symbol for virtue; Meng had to seek virtue elsewhere. “Take the road” is an
allusion to those who hold power, so I added “power” to make that clear. “Tune
of true friendship” is literally “know tune;” it makes an allusion to a story
where only a true friend could understand exactly what his friend was feeling when
he played music.

Original Chinese

Traditional	Simplified	Pronunciation

孟浩然	孟浩然	Mèng Hào Rán
留別王侍御維	留别王侍御维	Liú bié wáng shì yù wéi

寂寂竟何待，	寂寂竟何待，	Jì jì jìng hé dài，
朝朝空自歸。	朝朝空自归。	Cháo cháo kōng zì guī。
欲尋芳草去，	欲寻芳草去，	Yù xún fāng cǎo qù，
惜與故人違。	惜与故人违。	Xī yǔ gù rén wéi。
當路誰相假，	当路谁相假，	Dāng lù shuí xiāng jiǎ，
知音世所稀。	知音世所稀。	Zhī yīn shì suǒ xī。
祗應守寂寞，	只应守寂寞，	Zhǐ yìng shǒu jì mò，
還掩故園扉。	还掩故园扉。	Hái yǎn gù yuán fēi。

孟浩然	Elder-brother/first Grand/great Shape/pledge=Meng Haoran(689-740)
留別王侍御維	Stay Depart Wang/king Serve Manage Wei/safeguard [Stay Depart = a farewell poem written to a friend when one goes away. Farewell poems are an important category of Tang Dynasty poems. They can be divided into two subcategories further, namely留別诗 (liúbié shī), a poem written on going away from one’s friend, and 送别诗 (sòngbié shī), a poem given to a friend who is going away.], [Wang … Wei = Wang Wei, the famous poet], [Serve Manage = Shi Yu = Serve the Emperor, an official title. In the Tang Dynasty, the main responsibility of the Shi Yu was to supervise officials for the emperor.]

寂寂竟何待，	Still quiet at-last/after-all/finally why wait/expect
朝朝空自歸。	Morning/imperial-court morning/imperial-court empty/hollow/deserted self return [Morning morning = morning after morning]
欲尋芳草去，	Desire/want/long-for seek/search/look-for fragrant/virtuous/beautiful grass depart/go-away/leave [Generally speaking, “fragrant grass” has two meanings in classic Chinese literature. One meaning is vanilla. The other is a common allusion to Qu Yuan, one of the most prominent figures of Romanticism in classical Chinese literature. He used fragrant grass as a metaphor for virtue or people who have virtue. For example, in his masterpiece, Li Sao, there is a verse: “Why has the fragrant grass of the good old days turned to wormwood today?” Due to his influence, later poets often used “fragrant grass” as an allusion to virtue or people who have virtue. Here, “seek fragrant grass” means that the poet wanted to pursue virtue. The implied meaning is he would not sacrifice his pride and integrity for an official career and instead he would live in seclusion.]
惜與故人違。	Pity/regret for/with old man/friend be-apart-from
當路誰相假，	Undertake/bear road/path who/whose each-other borrow/lend-a-hand [當路 = undertake road = allusion to people in power. According to Mencius, a classical Chinese philosopher, Gongsun Chou asked Mencius, “If you undertook the road [to power] in the Qi Kingdom, would you contribute to the country as much as Guan Zhong, or Yan Zi?” From this, “undertake the road” became an allusion to people in power.]
知音世所稀。	Comprehend tone/pitch/sound world place/location rare/unusual/scarce [Comprehend tone = understand music = intimate friend or soul mate. This stems from a well-known story in China. According to Liezi, there was a music master named Yu Boya in ancient times. He was good at playing the Guqin, a traditional stringed instrument, and his friend Zhong Ziqi was good at appreciating the Guqin. When Yu Boya’s spirit flew to the high mountains while playing, Zhong Ziqi would say: “it is so towering, like Mount Tai”. When Yu Boya’s spirit flew to flowing water while playing, Zhong Ziqi would say: “it is so vast, like the river and ocean.” Whatever Boya thought of Ziqi would never fail to understand. When Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke his Guqin and vowed never to play it again. So Chinese people often use “understand music” to characterize close friends who truly understand and appreciate each other.]
祗應守寂寞，	Respect/revere/look-up-to should/ought-to/must guard/conserve/protect/defend still/silent/quiet silent/still/lonely/solitary
還掩故園扉。	Yet/still/also/besides conceal/cover-with-hand ancient/old garden/park door-panel

Note: Posted on dVersePoets Open Link Night 6/5/2012

Meng Haoran’s “A Farewell to Official Wang Wei” (300 Tang Poems #131)

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